Cruz said the effort to defund the Affordable Care Act can succeed if grassroots activists mobilize and hold firm.

“President Obama and (Nevada Sen.) Harry Reid will scream and yell, ‘Those mean, nasty Republicans are threatening to shut down the government!’” Cruz said. “And then we ought to do something Republicans haven’t done in a long time: stand up and win the argument.”

But there is disagreement, even among conservatives. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who has voted repeatedly to repeal Obamacare, does not support a plan that could lead to a government shutdown.

“I want to defund it, but my concern is that there’s mandatory spending that’s already baked into it that the Congressional Research Office says even if the government shuts down, it continues,” Ayotte said.

The first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire is about 30 months away, but after what the crowd in Dublin saw Friday, it’s clear the senator from Texas doesn’t have to worry about generating any excitement.

“He’s a bridge between mainstream Republicans and the liberty Republicans,” said Kathy Peterson of Nashua.

“We’ve got to pull back,” Cruz said. “We’ve got to get back to the founding principles of this country that enable small business to prosper, the economy to grow, and people to climb the economic ladder toward the American Dream.”

This is not Cruz’s first visit to New Hampshire. He said he has been in the state on a number of occasions, but never for an extended period of time.